i will look for you all. unfortunately i just started on 4 new forums in the last two weeks and it will be a bloody miracle if i can keep everything straight, handle my own deadlines (which are always, always completely random and last minute) AND produce text. But stranger things have happened, so why not??

@lilianp- i am a convinced quaker (since college) but had the good fortune to move to a high-quaker-density area and work at a quaker school for some years, so i got the condensed experience. Now i think my kid and i are the only quakers in this country, so i am not part of a meeting, but i keep up with a few meetings that have online functions, and well, hang out with the zen folks here, who are surprisingly compatible. as well as try to instill the values in the kid, which is the real workout. how about you?

I even joined the group on the forums there for write-in meetings! Until I found that by "Bristol and Bath" (which are two different, but close, cities) is actually "Bristol, but we might be able to organise someone to give you a ride maybe if you live in Bath". Bath's a twenty minute drive away, but Bristol's down the motorway for 45 minutes! I'm not driving to a pub two cities away to sit and not drink alcohol and write and then drive back alone on the motorway at night. Silly moderators!

_________________Moon - "This is the best recipe in the history of recipes forever."

I'm so excited; I just realized that I only have to write about 4 pages a day. That should be easy! I always write at least that much a day when I write stories (haha stories that are only that length).

I might participate this year as I finally have a novel idea that really excites me and this might just be the push to get a very rough draft out in a month. I don't plan on being official about it or joining any online communities, other than checking in here with you guys though for inspiration and progress reports. I think the key for me will be just keep going forward with the story, not re-reading previous chapters at all and not editing a thing until it's complete! <3

@lilianp- i am a convinced quaker (since college) but had the good fortune to move to a high-quaker-density area and work at a quaker school for some years, so i got the condensed experience. Now i think my kid and i are the only quakers in this country, so i am not part of a meeting, but i keep up with a few meetings that have online functions, and well, hang out with the zen folks here, who are surprisingly compatible. as well as try to instill the values in the kid, which is the real workout. how about you?

That must have been nice to work in such a high density quaker area. I guess that's sort of how it is here. There's several meetings within bikeable distance. Naturally I work at the one the farthest away. (Part-time) Have you utilized quakerfinder? I love using it when I'm travelling. I got a book pretty recently at Yearly Sessions on parenting/teaching your child Quaker values. I can try and find the title for you again (it was for my meeting's parenting/Religious ed library).

I did grow up Quaker, though. Spent most of my life attending meeting that's held in a Quaker school!

Back on topic: I love nanowrimo, but I have no original story ideas, so I'm going to be writing Firefly fanfic to fulfill a challenge I accepted months ago...

_________________"Vegan to me means Oreos for breakfast." -Poopiebitch"tl;dr: I quit working to drink beer paid for with gift cards" erikasoyf*cker

i like quakerfinder, although it's only N.America-- the nearest thing i've found is an online meeting, or Bolivia. A bit far!

Also back to topic- I have many short story ideas, but no ideas for novel-length work. At least none that won't involve months of research. I am not sure whether to just take a short story farther, or to go with my idea without doing the research first? seems sort of backasswards though, as when i write short stories one little detail turns the whole thing around on occasion.

i like quakerfinder, although it's only N.America-- the nearest thing i've found is an online meeting, or Bolivia. A bit far!

Also back to topic- I have many short story ideas, but no ideas for novel-length work. At least none that won't involve months of research. I am not sure whether to just take a short story farther, or to go with my idea without doing the research first? seems sort of backasswards though, as when i write short stories one little detail turns the whole thing around on occasion.

OH man. I fail. Obviously I never tried to use it for out of country travel! (which has only been to China, before it existed)

Probably short stories ideas-though with nano novels, there's always significant re-writes to be done, so you might be able to get away with the novel length idea.

_________________"Vegan to me means Oreos for breakfast." -Poopiebitch"tl;dr: I quit working to drink beer paid for with gift cards" erikasoyf*cker

Also back to topic- I have many short story ideas, but no ideas for novel-length work. At least none that won't involve months of research. I am not sure whether to just take a short story farther, or to go with my idea without doing the research first? seems sort of backasswards though, as when i write short stories one little detail turns the whole thing around on occasion.

this is mostly my issue too. I conceptualize everything as poems or short stories. But I actually started writing my idea out as a short story then two pages in split it into two short stories (I have two intros to two short stories two pages apiece already which I wrote on this idea maybe a month ago) and then I pondered some more and thought well, maybe it's a novella (to me a novella is less than one hundred pages and a full novel scares me because it's just so much sustained work) and then I thought of a subplot that works with the main idea and realized--whoa--this could be a whole novel. So I's excited and daunted. I think I should try and write an outline though, even just a sketchy one as I'm afraid if I just write off the top of my head it'll be too disorganized but I might just do that and see what happens.

I might participate this year as I finally have a novel idea that really excites me and this might just be the push to get a very rough draft out in a month. I don't plan on being official about it or joining any online communities, other than checking in here with you guys though for inspiration and progress reports. I think the key for me will be just keep going forward with the story, not re-reading previous chapters at all and not editing a thing until it's complete! <3

Yup... This was th attitude I had the year I was actually successful and I think that's the way to go!

Now I'm getting worried about my story. I knew what I wanted to happen, so I built a whole story around it. But now I just want the core story, which would probably be really short. Is it a cop-out to build a whole world and story just so that I'll have a long story? Is it a cop-out not to do that? I have no idea what to do with one of my characters. I can't decide if I should not have her in the story. She might be the best part of my story. She just has to be used exactly right. But hoooow? This writing business is hard

Now I'm getting worried about my story. I knew what I wanted to happen, so I built a whole story around it. But now I just want the core story, which would probably be really short. Is it a cop-out to build a whole world and story just so that I'll have a long story? Is it a cop-out not to do that? I have no idea what to do with one of my characters. I can't decide if I should not have her in the story. She might be the best part of my story. She just has to be used exactly right. But hoooow? This writing business is hard

No, it's not. You just start writing, not caring about the outcome. Once you get past your initial hesitation, the story will grow organically.If you know what that character is like, what she likes and dislikes, what her secret ambitions are (etc - no matter whether those things will ever end up in the story or not), she will know what to do and just do it. Just have her stay in character. :)

You guys, I've done nano for the past 7 years, and last year is the first year I didn't make it. I was writing a ultra-personal story and it got way too tramatic for me. I want to write again this November, but I'm so nervous! I'm choosing a totally different plot, but I'm just worried that I'm not going to be able to do it. I've got nano nerves!